Heat actuated safety shutoff valve



July 20,1943. Y MBAILEY 2,324,552

HEAT- ACTUATED SAFETY SHUT-OFF VALVE Filedsept. 11, 1940 INVENTORChanaizey `of the lever toward the trigger.

Patented July 2o, i943 2,324,552 i HEAT ACTUATEI)` SAFETY SHUTOFF VALVEj Charles M. Bailey, SanFrancisco, Calif., assignor j to Charles-M.Bailey. Co., Inc., a corporationv Application Septenibc'll, 1940, SerialNo. 356,263

-, a claims. (ci. 1st- 139) This invention relates to high-pressure gasvalves such as areused in`power plants, and

' particularly represents modiiications'oi and `ad ditions to the valvestructure shown in U. S. Patent No. 2,229,543, dated January 21, 194:1.`

My principal object now is` to provide a control means for the valve soarranged that while the valve will normally remain open, it will beclosed by reason of excessive heat caused by a reimrnediately adjacentthe valve; or Vindependently by a re at any point in the plantrelatively remote from the valve." i

The figure on the drawing is an elevation. parti naar other-nexiumeiemennwhich at itsother ly in section, of my improved valve controlmeans.

' Referring now more particularly to the characters of reference on thedrawing, the valve itself is of the globe type, and includes a body lhaving a vertically movable valve disc 2 adapted to cooperate with aseat 3 and raised from said seat when open. l p i p A stem 5 projectsupwardly from the disc, and passes through a packing gland 5 on topl ofthe body. At its upper end the stem is connected to a substantiallyhorizontallever 6 which intermediate its ends but close to the stem, is`pivoted as at 1 on a cage 8 upstanding from the valve body. Asubstantially vertical trigger 9 is pivoted on thecage in line with andbeyond the adjacent end of the lever, the trigger having a lip 9a on itslower end underhanging the lever when the latter is moved down at itsopposite end to open the valve as shown in the drawing. l

A tension spring III is connected to the lever beyond the stem 4 and tothe cage above said lever to exert an upward pull on the adjacentportion of the lever, which tends to c lose the valve.

A substantially horizontal holding arm Ii is pivoted intermediate itsends as at P on the cage above the lever pivot 1 and extends lengthwiseAt its trigger end, said arm normally engages a seating notch I2 cut inthe edge of the trigger above its pivot and on the same side as lip 9a;such engagement preventing the trigger swinging in a direction to movethe lip clear of the lever, as will be evident. As soon as the triggerend of the arm is raised clear of the seating notch, however, i thelever will be released and thevalve will be closed by the action'ofspring I0 on said lever. i

In order to thus release the arm and cause the trigger to trip by reasonof nre ln the immediate vicinity of the valve, I provide the followingarrangement: Secured at one end tothe end of the arm Il furthest fromthe trigger is a chain end is connected to aweight Il. This weight isnormally supported above the arm so thatthe chain' is somewhat slack bymeans of a readily fusible link I5 projectingfromthe ball andwhich ishung from a hook I6 supported from the cage above the weight andtrigger.

It will therefore be seen that lire heat adja` cent-the valve will causethe link to melt. `The ball` will then drop below the arm as far as the`chain will permit, causing `a sudden downward pull to be exerted` on theadjacent end of the j arm. This will of course raise the other endl of tsaid arm clear of the trigger, releasing the latter and allowing thevalve to close. i

i Inorder to'also cause the valve to close by reheat at points otherthan immediately adjacentthe valve, I provide the followingstructure:`

The arm I|,`between its pivot P and the trigger, is provided with across pin I1, which slidesl in a verticalslot [8in a* yoke I9. This yokede pends from a stern 20 which at its upperend is connected to theunderside of `a disc 2|. This disc is yieldably pressed upward by aspring 22 of adjustable pressure. Directly` above and engaging the discis a diaphragm 23 mountedin a housing 24 supported from the cage B.

A water pressure pipe 25 is connected intermediate its ends to thehousing 24 above the diaphragm by a lateral 26.` The pipe has a pressurereducing valve 21 therein ahead of the lateral, and a restriction 28between the reducing valve and said lateral. The pipe extends anydesired distance beyond the lateral and at convenient points, such as indiilerent rooms separated by a wall 29, is provided with `overheadsprinkler heads indicated diagrammatically at 30 and which are of thatconventional type which open only when aiIected by lire `heat inthevicinity.

The spring 22 is set to counteract the normal water pressure in thediaphragm housing, and it will `be seen that as soon as such pressure isrelieved by the opening of any sprinkler, the spring 22 will act to liftdisc 2| and stem 20 attached thereto, and will raise the adjacentportion of the holding arm Il. This will release the `trigger and allowthe valve to close in the same manner as by `the action of the weight Ilpreviously described.

From the foregoing description it will be readily g seen that Ihaveproduced such a device as substantially fulillls the objects of theinvention as set forth herein. i

While this specification sets forth in detail the present and preferredconstruction of the dovice,'sti1l in practice such deviations from suchdetail may be resorted to as do not form a departure from the spirit oftheinvention, as dened by the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and useful anddesire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A safety control mechanism for a self-closing valve having releasablemeans associated therewith to normally hold the valve open, said meansincluding a member movable to release the same, said control mechanismcomprising a pressure responsive unit adapted to be arranged incommunication with a fluid pressure conduit, means connecting saidpressure responsive unit with said holding means whereby the unit isoperative to release said holding means upon predetermined variation inthe iluid pressure in said conduit, a separate unit responsive to fireheat adjacent the valve, and separate means connecting said separateunit and the common holding means whereby said separate unit isoperative to release said holding means; the connecting means for thepressure responsive unit having limited loose-play connection with saidmember, and the separate connecting means for said fire-heat responsiveunit comprising a normally slack exible element of non-combustiblematerial connected to said member whereby either unit may separately andindependently move said member and release said holding means.

2. A safety control mechanism f or a self-closing valve havingreleasable means associated therewith to normally hold the valve open,said means including a vertically movable member; said control mechanismcomprising a pressure responsive unit adapted to be arranged incommunication with a fluid pressure conduit, means connecting saidpressure responsive unit with said holding means whereby the unit isoperative to release said holding means upon predetermined variation inthe uid pressure in said conduit, a separate unit responsive to ilreheat adjacent the valve, and separate means connecting said separateunit and the common holding means whereby said separate unit isoperative to release said holding means upon predetermined nre heatadjacent the valve; the connecting means for the pressure responsiveunit having loose play connection with said member. the lire heatresponsive unit including an elevated weight suspended from a fusibleelement, and the connecting means for said nre heat responsive unitcomprising a normally slack ilexible element of noncombustible materialconnected between the weight and said member, whereby either unit mayseparately and independently move said member and release said holdingmeans.

3. A safety control mechanism for a self-closing valve having releasablemeans associated therewith to normally hold the valve open, said meansincluding a vertically movable member: said control mechanism comprisinga pressure responsive unit adapted to be arranged in communication witha fluid pressure' conduit. means connecting said pressure responsiveunit with said holding means whereby the unit is operative to releasesaid holding means upon predetermined variation in the iiuid pressure insaid conduit. a separate unit responsive to re heat adjacent the valve,and separate means connecting said separate unit and the common holdingmeans whereby said separate unit isoperative to release said holdingmeans upon predetermined ilre heat adjacent the valve; the connectingmeans for the pressure responsive unit having loose play connection withsaid member, the re heat responsive unit including an elevated weightsuspended from a fusible element, and the connecting means for said nreheat responsive unit comprising a metal chain xed on and depending fromthe weight to a point below said member and thence looping upward andconnected thereto, whereby either unit may separately and independentlymove said member and release said holding means.

CHARLES M, BAILEY.

